Online Chat with Road House Star Kelly Lynch

10:25:25 PM – AMCtv.com: Hi, Kelly. Thanks for coming to talk to the fans at AMCtv.com. Dan from New York wants to know, What’s your fondest memory about making this particular movie?

10:27:16 PM – Kelly Lynch: I guess falling in love with all of the music around me. We had so many musicians from the Jeff Healey band, a fantastic singer and songwriter. Kathleen Willhoyt and John Doe from the punk band X. During downtimes somebody would set up some music somewhere and we would be singing and dancing or listening to someone playing. It was a really fun set, because there was so much fighting and conflict with the characters that during our downtime, between set-ups we were laughing and making music. It was really fun. Everybody was great.

10:28:04 PM – Kathy from Brandenton, Florida: I felt like the real heat came from your two-step with Sam Elliott. What are your thoughts on that?

10:28:30 PM – Kelly Lynch: Well I married a guy who looks weirdly like that character. At the time I had a huge crush on Patrick and Sam, I was surrounded by two great guys. You might have seen something there before I did, but Sam was great. Very astute.

10:29:57 PM – Kelly Lynch: That’s a good question. I kind of like the scene when I first meet Patrick. Two people from two different worlds have this instant chemistry when I’m stitching him up. It was obvious we were going to be together, and it sets the relationship up. He fell for a really smart woman, which I think is really great for a guy.

10:30:22 PM – Kelly Lynch: Just between us, I spent a month learning how to tie off stitches, and they hand me a staple gun.

10:30:25 PM – Kelly Lynch: I was so pissed off.

10:30:33 PM – Kelly Lynch: Like oh, this is cheating!

10:31:47 PM – John A. Gordon from North Carolina: What is your next big project?

10:35:10 PM – Kelly Lynch: I’ve got a couple things. I just finished a movie called The Perfect Age of Rock N Roll. It’s about a young rock band and the memory of another generation of rock form the 70s ghosting this band. They’re like the kids of a huge band from the 70s. It’s a lot about the music industry and rock n roll. There’s still young people carrying the tradition. I’m a rock person from way back and I’m happy to put my name on it. Peter Fonda plays my boyfriend and he was a roadie from the older band, now he’s driving this young band and showing them the old school ropes. Jason Ritter, John Ritter’s son is in it. It was just a great time. I loved every second of it. It was so much fun. And then I play myself in a movie called Mercy. Scott Caan, James’s son, is a great friend of mine and I really love his work as a writer/director. And he asked me to play myself, which I have to say is the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I see myself as this laid back hippie and the business sees me as this glam sexy girl, and I could tell by the dialogue he gave me that it was different than me. It was so embarrassing because I would never say this! It was flattering, but weird. And I just guest starred on an episode of The Cleaner with Benjamin Bratt. I loved the pilot, loved the character, and thought the show was just amazing and it was a great experience. It’s a well-done, complicated show that you can actually get a chance to act. It was so hard, but I had a great time.

10:36:02 PM – Whippersnapper42: Do you keep in touch with Patrick Swayze and Sam Elliott?

10:36:10 PM – Kelly Lynch: You know I don’t although occasionally our paths cross and all the years melt away. I love them both and I will never feel any differently about them. They’re just incredible human beings.

10:37:47 PM – Kelly Lynch: Oh yeah! I was in a terrible car accident when I was 20, which I hate to say is 29 years ago. I was crippled, and I had a few spots that required stitches. But I allowed them to give me painkillers. Pain does hurt. But my legs were so broken they weren’t sure I was going to walk again. It’s the reason I became an actor, I saw my life flash before me and I knew what I wanted to do. I gave myself permission that if I got well I was going to go for my dream and be an actor and not be embarrassed about it.

10:38:15 PM – Ashley from New York: Would you ever go back to being a stewardess?

10:38:45 – Kelly Lynch: That’s the job I had right before my accident. I don’t think so. When I was young I loved the job. I loved traveling. But I want to act for the rest of my life. But I loved the job. I saw the world.

10:39:40 PM – Zach from Cherry Hill, NJ: You’ve been in comedies, dramas, and SciFi. Which do you prefer and why?

10:40:19 PM – Kelly Lynch: That’s another really good question. It’s always about the level of the work. I felt Drugstore Cowboy , which a lot of people call a drama, was a comedy. Matt Dillon and I were laughing the whole way through. I try to find a sense of humor in everything I do. It’s not about the genre, just where I can get the biggest chance to act.

10:40:52 PM – DGAPrez: Other than the hospital scrubs (which weren’t so bad either) your wardrobe for this film was great. Did you get to keep it?

10:42:02 PM – Kelly Lynch: I did. And I have a 22 year old daughter who keeps stealing that picnic tablecloth dress. I thought that dress was hysterical. It was a costume designer’s idea of what a country girl would wear, which seems so crazy but it was adorable. I’ve never seen a dress made out of a picnic table cloth, but it worked so well. I put it on everyone kept saying it was so hot. I wanted to lay down and put plates and napkins on myself.

10:42:45 PM – RA: Where was Road House filmed?

10:44:12 PM – Kelly Lynch: It was filmed in a few different locations, all of them beautiful. One was outside of Yosemite National Park and we were also in Fresno for a lot of the exterior shots, and we shot in the studio. We were in the country a lot, and it was beautiful. There was one by a river where Dalton fights the other bouncer. They really decided to go for it in that scene. They were friendly with each other but they decided to have a full contact fight. It was scary. Cameron Diaz and I did the same thing in Charlie’s Angels . Everyone was very nervous someone was going to get hurt.

10:45:12 PM – Johnny: I wonder what your thoughts are on you and Sam Elliot making a western movie together as he is the best on westerns.

10:46:13 PM – Kelly Lynch: Any time, anywhere, any place I would do any movie with Sam Elliott, and a Western would be a dream. I’ve never been in a Western and it’s crazy: I have a home in the Sierra Mountains, I ride horses, people think of me as glam but I’m really comfortable in a pair of jeans, a cowboy shirt and cowboy boots. I’m a cowgirl deep in my soul — it’s part of me. I’d rather be outside than inside any day of my life. I feel like I’ve created a monster — I don’t know who they think I am. Someone far more sophisticated and glamorous than I really am.

10:46:51 PM – cdawg: Are they going to do a sequel to Curly Sue ?

10:47:47 PM – Kelly Lynch: Not that I know of. My husband just brought his computer over to me to show me all these different YouTubes of Allison Porter. She’s a woman and she’s got the voice of Janice Joplin. She’s incredibly talented. I don’t know if she’s acting any more. She ended up just being an amazing, cool entertainer. I was so proud of her. She was a fantastic kid. I loved every minute of working with her.

10:48:44 PM – Blissful122: Is Road House based on any actual events in Jasper, Missouri?

10:49:19 PM – Kelly Lynch: Not that I know of. Seems like it was a movie built to be the movie it was. It was taking these crowd-pleasing items, putting them together and making this movie that was fun to watch. Then everybody has to have a mullet. I kept going, does my hair have to be that high? It was a tremendous amount of blow dry and hairspray. It killed me, but I guess it had to be. All the women, all the men, mulletville.

10:50:44 PM – cklane: Are any actors you want to work with?

10:50:47 PM – Kelly Lynch: Daniel Day Lewis — I would almost sell my child to do a movie with him. He’s really it for me as far as talent and commitment. And I also adore Meryl Streep. I’ve met her and I love her as a person.

10:51:53 PM – Sonnyhalter: Has there ever been talk about a sequel to Road House?

10:52:37 PM – Kelly Lynch: There has been rumblings of this, but never anything that materialized. However, Patrick and I came up with a stoner Road House concept — Smoke House. We just amused ourselves with the idea of possible sequels. But I get fan mail still every day about Road House. Whether you think it’s a cheesy goofy movie or you really love it, everyone has reason to be amused. I’m an entertainer and I’m proud to give that much entertainment to so many people for all these years. It’s not so easy.

11:05:48 PM – Lianna: You’ve worked with a number of the few female directors in the industry. Do you think there’s a difference working between female directors and male ones?

11:07:09 PM – Kelly Lynch: I like working with women, but more than male or female I’m a sucker for talent. And on that end I don’t think so. I think women are built to direct because they’re good at multi-tasking, so I think we should have more female directors. I’ve brought things up to male directors and could tell they were struggling spinning all these plates at once. Women don’t get as many opportunities, but I think all of that is changing. Women are catching up in math and science, and there’s a shift. It will show up. It should always be about talent. Are you cut out? Are you the best person? The only difference I see is in opportunity.

11:08:43 PM – Cliff from Baltimore, Maryland: What was your favorite part of making Drugstore Cowboy?

11:09:09 PM – Kelly Lynch: Hmm. I loved every minute of that movie. I think probably just working with Matt Dillon. It was so much fun, because like me he’s trying to find humor in things. We did a little bit of improv and it was really hard for my character not to crack up because he was so funny. But my character was not supposed to be amused. Every time the director cut we were just roaring with laughter. I felt like Matt was a thoroughbred in that movie. He had it perfect. That was the beginning of independent film, when small movies were getting noticed again, and the Academy didn’t give him the recognition he deserved. I was really proud to be there by his side.

11:11:38 PM – Kelly Lynch: I think that first scene we’re together. We’d already become friends before then, but the very first scene where our characters meet there’s this shy but strong attraction. It was a tightrope walk to play as an actor. It looks easy to play someone falling in love, but it’s not. It’s very charming, and before all the pyrotechnics. A lot of people liked the love scene — I felt by that time we were already there. I like people falling in love, I like seeing how actors do that, and when they don’t get it right the rest of the movie doesn’t work for me. A close second would be two-stepping with Sam Elliott. it was really fun. And we actually went to a choreographer because Sam was nervous about dancing, which made it all the more sweet.

11:12:19 PM – Dizzy: If you ever Google yourself?

11:13:11 PM – Kelly Lynch: At my own peril. I did it once, and it was so weird. My daughter found naked pictures of me that I only wish were my body. There are so many discrepancies. I just try to get my name right on IMDb. They’re determined to call my middle name Colleen, but it’s Anne. Most of the information on the Internet is probably questionable. I guess it’s my age. I prefer knowing the truth. There’s so much said about you that’s total baloney that you just go, well whatever.

11:14:20 PM – Ellen from Boulder, Colorado: Why did you choose to turn down Sharon Stone’s role in Basic Instinct .

11:15:25 PM – Kelly Lynch: Believe it or not, I didn’t think it was sexy. I thought it was cheesy, and I still feel it was cheesy. It was a lot of money and a road to fame and fortune, but I felt there was a dead end waiting for me there. All I’ve wanted was to be an actor. Whether or not the world chooses to make me a star is something I can’t decide. And I didn’t want to slam any doors for myself. I don’t think it’s been an easy road for Sharon Stone particularly. I’m very happy I didn’t do that role. I would have done Kathleen Turner’s role in Body Heat . I thought it was spectacularly written. But I thought Basic Instinct was sad and cheesy. My agents were upset, but I’m very happy I didn’t have to spend all those months in that character’s shoes.

11:16:51 PM – Kita: I just played golf at Brookview in Golden Valley, Minnesota last week. What is your fondest memories of growing up there?

11:17:06 PM – Kelly Lynch (laughing): Wow. I loved growing up there. There are so many things. I think I would say riding my bike around the lakes in Minneapolis and swimming. I loved those lakes, I loved them. From the second I could be outside, it was like my mother would call me in for dinner. Other than that…I’m still the same way. A bike or skis or a horse. I got all that from my childhood in Minnesota. I loved growing up there.

11:18:45 PM – AMCtv.com: Hey Kelly, we’re doing a Patrick Swayze quiz on AMCtv.com right now and we were wondering if you’d be willing to answer a few questions. First up, what was Patrick Swayze’s recurring declaration of love to Demi Moore in Ghost which causes her to have doubts about their relationship?

11:19:40 PM – Kelly Lynch: I remember this one: “Ditto.” I had that same thing with a boyfriend. It didn’t end so well, not as good as Ghost, but it was sweet. But it really stuck with me. It was pre-Ghost, so they stole it from me.

11:20:52 PM – AMCtv.com: Good memory! You should know this next one, too. In Road House, what does Swayze’s character Dalton say sets him apart from other bouncers?

11:21:03 PM – Kelly Lynch: Specifically I have no memories. Something about being a philosopher? I just remember the sensitive intelligent part of his character. He was reluctant to get into a fight, he tries to use his brains instead of his brawn. But it comes to that.

11:21:32 PM – AMCtv.com: That’s two for two. Let’s see if you can go for a perfect three!

11:22:31 PM – Kelly Lynch: “In the corner.” That’s one of our favorite sayings around the house. We just thought it was hysterical. Whenever someone is giving someone a hard time, we say it. It seems to be like a catch-all, don’t-treat-me-badly. It made me laugh the moment I heard it and has kept me grinning ever since.

11:23:32 PM – AMCtv.com: Well, that’s the end of our chat. Thank you so much for your time.

11:23:37 PM – Kelly Lynch: Thank you all so much. I had a great time, and it’s really gratifying to see so many people still love my movies.